Creeping forward on his belly staying as quiet as he could, Catha used every ounce of his skill to remain undetected. Brushing a clinging creeper out of his way silently, he stalked his prey. Seeing a shadow move, Catha froze on the spot. Breathing a silent sigh of relief he relaxed a little as he saw it was only a young Aboris, which had made the copse of strong oak trees his home. This was pointless. He had spent three years since his rites of manhood training under the Warlord’s head scout; this was his first big quest. He could not afford to fail no matter how trivial the task seemed.
The Warlord had sent him out that morning to find out what had caused the sudden increase in attacks from the wild creatures of Feao. At the time it had seemed like an easy mission one that he had deemed himself overly qualified for. The other warriors of his clan were set tasks of strength and bravery, not stalking around the dark wet forests of Thornapple Brushwood and the cold mountain tops of the Ridge of Darkness.
Just as Catha was turning to crawl back in to the glade he had left his Crion Zorb grazing in, something caused the hair on the back of his neck to prickle he saw a cloud of dust rising over the far side of the forest. Hunkering down to wait he wondered what this new omen might bring. A sound began to accompany the dust cloud, the sound of heavy padded feet, many many feet more than he could count. A large war band burst through the foliage into the glade at such speed that the young saplings lining the edge of the glade were shattered under the impact of the steel clad Breona. The shear speed and ferocity emanating from these Humans was enough for Catha to realise this was no simple raiding party. The thudding of the boots on the forest floor echoed the thudding of his heart, hammering in his chest. Within moments the full potential of the threat became clear as Catha recognised the markings on the banner of the leader, this was an Axe strike force lead by none other than the feared mage MegaUnique .
Catha hurriedly removed a bunch of grapes from Varya’s saddlebag, wishing the stubborn beast would accept them quickly and quietly, instead of her usual leisurely munching. As she swallowed the last grape, she released an almighty belch. The young Magmar whipped around, cursing the flatulent monster. He grabbed the leather strap of the girth, pulling it up roughly, while in the same movement hoisting himself into the saddle. There was no time for niceties with the bad tempered Zorb, he realised, digging his heels into her corpulent sides and snapping the reins against her neck. As Catha got her moving he heard the leader of the raiders shout "Erin lerear, il lee onermeissar". The tone was enough to understand he had been spotted now he wished he had brought his Battle Zorb on this little trek. Galloping home he
realised the Elder had to be informed the people of Dartong had bigger problems then a few rabid animals...
Upon his arrival in city square Catha was surprised to see the people were celebrating. Ender one of Catha’s closest clan mates was being hailed as a hero. She had found the cause of the animal attacks and single handedly slain the giant Minotaur that was leading the attacks. A smile split his face as he admitted to himself that if anyone was worthy of the peoples praise Ender was the girl.
The people were so happy that they no longer needed to fear the bumps in the night, that Catha was ignored and shunned for making up lies to take away from the glorious achievement. There had not been a Human raid of that magnitude for decades; the mages insured that with their constant vigil. Catha tried everything he could but the people just would not believe him. He returned home beginning to think he had imagined it all out of boredom.
... The next morning he awoke to the hammering of Weiss on his door, even if this morning hadn’t been an emergency he would never delay the chief of investigation of the Dartong Guards. He had been summoned before the elder council to give them some kind of insight as to where these blood thirsty Humans had come from and how many of them there were. The reports had come in slowly at first, a small farmstead razed to the ground with no survivors, a merchant caravan left slaughtered on the road the goods left scattered for the crows, innocents were vanishing without a trace, the Humans had returned. The drums of war were sounding.
The storm was coming...
Author: Catha
